ESCAPE TO… Vietnam


very Marine in 1 Corps got to spend a few days at China Beach at least once during their 13-month tours,” writes journalist Michael Herr in his 1977 book Dispatches, a visceral, personal account of the Vietnam War. “It was a place where they could go swimming or surfing, get drunk, get stoned, get laid, get straight, groove in the scivvie houses, rent sailboats or just sleep.” It was on the sandy shores of Danang that 50


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years ago the first US ground troops arrived, striding from their boats through the warm waters of the bay, located midway down Vietnam’s S-shaped coastline. You only have to read Dispatches to get a sense of just how senseless the ensuing ten-year war was, one in which 58,000 US soldiers died, and three million Vietnamese, two-thirds of them civilians.


78 NOVEMBER 2015


Against this background, you can appreciate


how rapidly the country has rebuilt itself, and the incredible capacity of the local people for forgiveness. These days, Danang is a thriving port city of over one million people. Down by the surf, fishermen mend their circular basket boats, just as they have always done, but all along the seafront promenade, glitzy karaoke bars, golf courses and luxury hotels are arriving. Among local brands such as the luxurious Naman Retreat and Fusion Maia, there’s a Pullman and a Hyatt Regency. A Sheraton will open in 2018. Despite the best efforts of the Americans, Vietnam


remains a Communist country, but economic reforms have opened it up to the market, resulting in improved living standards and huge strides in development. Last year, it welcomed 7.8 million


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